Lorry parking area receives green light

A NEW parking area for lorries at a Tattyreagh convenience store will make the area ‘safer’, according to the local businessman behind the plan.

Planning permission for the development at the Halfway Convenience Store was granted by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council at its planning committee meeting last week. It follows a number of collisions and near-misses for motorists driving along the busy road.

Andrew Short, who has developed the shop in recent years, said the primary aim of the application was to ensure the safety of motorists leaving the premises.

“This is a busy road with a lot of lorries. What is happening at the moment is that the lorries pull up at the pumps and block the view of motorists who are trying to leave the premises,” he said.

“There is a crest on the road which also affects the view, with the result that there have been a number of collisions.”

Mr Short said that the most recent collision was earlier this month when a lorry crashed into the back of a vehicle on the road.

He added that the application would not lead to the shop becoming any busier than it already is.

“It’s my hope that this application will simply make the area safer. Lorries will be able to come in, park and circulate, and then leave again. Both the lorries and motorists will be able to exit the premises safely.”

Planning permission was granted, subject to 11 different conditions.

These include a prohibition on lorries being parked at the site between 11pm and 7am, that there be no deliveries between these hours and that gates or security barriers are located far enough from the roadway to ensure that the largest expected vehicle does not encorach onto the road.